Travel Tuesday: World Heritage Site Bucket List

Happy Travel Tuesday everyone! This week the lovely link-up sponsors have come up with an awesome theme – share your travel bucket list! I can pretty much sum up that list in one word – “anywhere” – but that wouldn’t be much of a post (smile). I consolidated my Travel Bucket List when I started this blog as a way to prioritize my travel planning. However, I’ve recently gotten on board with tracking visits to UNESCO World Heritage Sites (thanks to Stacey over at One Trip at a Time for the inspiration!). So I thought for today, I’d list my World Heritage Site-specific bucket list!

There are currently 1,007 properties listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. New sites are proposed every year and undergo a thorough review process before being added to the list. To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.

By my count, I’ve been fortunate enough to see 25 of these amazing sites (admittedly, most by happy accident). Recently, however, I’ve decided to take a more active interest in the list and the sites that are included and/or nominated. Quite a few of these sites aren’t necessarily found on the tourist maps (some are), so it’s good to be aware in case I’m close enough for a side trip (smile). Here are my top 5 dream sites from the World Heritage List:

World Heritage Sites is a really clever idea of putting together a bucket list. So many great places to visit – it could take a lifetime! Of the ones on your list, I’ve only visited Newgrange. Would love to visit the Ethiopian one day.

Almost too many great places to visit! At least there’s plenty of variety no matter where you are 🙂 I would love to visit Newgrange – I’ve always been curious to see how it compares to other pre-historic sites (esp since it’s supposed to be one of the oldest).

I love the idea of making a list of all the World Heritage sites you want to visit! I seem to accidentally go to them…I guess I’m drawn to them haha. I think my favorite has probably been Machu Picchu, but I loved the Great Wall and Angkor Wat, too! I have never heard of those forts in India but WOW! They are definitely added to my list!

I guess that’s why certain sites make the list – they’re “magnetic!” 😉 I was surprised at just how many I had stumbled across once I started counting. It was a lot of fun going through the UNESCO list and picking out a handful of favorites for this post. I would love to see them all 🙂 Machu Picchu would’ve been #6 on this list – it’s hard to imagine what a great adventure that one would be!

The Rock-Hewn Churches look amazing! Like you I have visited several World Heritage Sites by accident but this year decided to start tracking them and make an effort to see if my planned trips could include a visit to one or more to meet my (admittedly VERY ambitious) goal of visiting 500 of them in my lifetime. I see from your post there are now 1007 when there were only 981 when I looked- must go see if any of the places I’ve already been have been added to the list!

You know, I actually think it was reading about your goal of visiting 500 sites that inspired me to take a closer look at how many I had visited – so thank you for the inspiration! 🙂
I think it’s a great list to follow – smart tourism aids in preservation efforts and they’re all really cool sites. I’m a little surprised at some of the sites that aren’t on there yet, but as it’s growing all the time (obviously) maybe they’ll make it yet! I wish you the best of luck in your goal!! No reason it can’t happen 😉

wow all of those are such amazing choices! I mean you probably can’t go wrong with the World Heritage Sites! And it’s such an interesting way of making a list! Last year I tried to start counting how many I’ve been to and you’re inspiring me to make a post about that 🙂
The Sand Sea and the Hill Forts look pretty amazing!

I think that would make for an excellent post! It’s a fun opportunity to look back on just how much you’ve had a chance to see and to daydream about a few new ones 🙂 Making this post has definitely inspired a few new dreams for me! I’ve been wavering on the idea of India, but those Hill Forts (and a couple of other sites) have it back on the list.

I recently noticed that I visited a few World Heritage Sites without even noticing it, oops! A castle near my home town was even included in the list and I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago 😉 the forts in Rajasthan are the most appealing to me as I’ve been fascinated by India and Bollywood when I was a kid 😉 but the fort in Ireland also looks stunning (it is a fort, isn’t it?)

There are so many sites that it’s pretty easy to come across one and not even know it! Of course now I want to go to all of the ones off the beaten path 🙂 Newgrange in Ireland is a fort of sorts – it’s supposedly older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids! Can’t pass up on a chance to see something that survived that long!